Freshworks: How a Chennai Startup Became the First Indian SaaS Company on Nasdaq

Freshworks competed on price and simplicity, using free trials, transparent pricing and digital marketing to acquire customers without heavy field sales, then expanded from support into a broader suite. It kept its product core in Chennai while building a US commercial presence, and granted stock options broadly to employees.

Freshworks listed on Nasdaq on 22 September 2021, raising about $1.03 billion at roughly a $10.13 billion valuation, the first Indian SaaS company to do so. The IPO created 500-plus crorepatis among its India employees. It reported about $596.4 million in 2023 revenue, up 20 percent.

Born from a customer-support frustration

Freshworks began in 2010 in Chennai as Freshdesk, founded by Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy, both formerly of Zoho. The idea grew out of Girish's frustration with clunky, expensive customer-support software. The founding bet was that a modern, affordable, easy-to-adopt support product built in India could win small and mid-sized businesses worldwide that felt underserved by incumbents such as Zendesk and Salesforce.

A product-led, global-from-day-one model

Freshworks sold to the world from Chennai rather than moving upmarket into complex enterprise sales first. It leaned on inbound and product-led growth: free trials, transparent pricing, heavy digital marketing and a product easy enough to adopt without a salesperson. Over time it broadened from customer support into a suite spanning IT service management, sales and marketing, competing on price and simplicity. It kept its engineering and product heart in India while building a US commercial and corporate presence, eventually headquartering in California with Chennai as its product hub.

The Nasdaq milestone

On 22 September 2021, Freshworks listed on Nasdaq under the ticker FRSH, becoming the first Indian-origin SaaS company to go public on a US exchange. It priced its IPO at $36 a share, above the marketed range, raising roughly $1.03 billion and valuing the company at about $10.13 billion. The stock jumped on debut, pushing the market capitalisation well above thirteen billion dollars on day one. The listing was a landmark for the entire Indian SaaS sector, proof that a global product company could be built from India and taken public on Nasdaq.

Wealth shared widely

What made the IPO resonate at home was who it enriched. Because Freshworks had granted stock options broadly, the listing created more than 500 crorepatis among its India employees, roughly 70 of them under the age of 30. Girish Mathrubootham framed it as a matter of principle, saying wealth has to be shared with the people who helped create it and that it is not only for founders and chief executives to enjoy.

The business behind the story

Freshworks has continued to grow as a public company, reporting total revenue of about $596.4 million for full-year 2023, up 20 percent year on year, with more than 20,000 customers each contributing over $5,000 in annual recurring revenue. As a public company it has faced the market's demand for a clear path to GAAP profitability, a common tension for growth-stage SaaS. But as the template for Indian SaaS ambition, selling globally, competing on ease and price, and building durable ARR, Freshworks remains the reference case, and its ESOP-driven wealth creation reset expectations for how Indian startups reward employees.